DUIKERS GET A NEW LEASE OF LIFE After a number of years in the doldrums the Natal Duikers Club founded way back in 1956 by a legendary Durban High School old boy Leo Smithers has been rejuvenated thanks to the KZNRU agreeing to use the famous badge and club for a new schools format and will now be adding the KZNRU Youth Duikers to their arsenal thus saving the club from certain closure after a long and intriguing history. Traditionally a club utilized to select Under 23 players that were on the fringes of being selected for Natal, the Duikers unearthed some hugely talented players in the past that even went on to play for the Springboks such as wings Trix Truter and Hannes Viljoen. However as the game entered into the new professional era the club started to play fewer and fewer games and were struggling to keep their head above water. Current Chairman of the Duikers, Frans de Beer who played for the club as a 19 year old in their inaugural match has welcomed the move and feels it will certainly help revive the club and looks forward to generating new interest in what was once an institution in Natal Rugby. Youth Rugby or mini rugby was founded in 1974 by the late Dr Kevin Laser Taylor at the Berea Rovers Rugby Club now College Rovers. Taylor a dentist who arrived from England with the idea of introducing the game to youngsters at an early age soon got the support from local parents and soon the game caught on with many Natal players having been through his hands such was the success of his initiative. Taylor who was recently inducted into the Rovers Rugby Hall of Fame can even lay claim of having one international referee passing through his always enthusiastic hands namely Jonathan Kaplan. Now years later with the amalgamation with the Duikers Rugby Club, the newly formed KZNRU Youth Duikers will be hosting the Inter Provincial Youth Rugby Tournament starting at Woodburn in Pietermaritzburg (Monday) this morning at 9am. And so with the restructuring of the KZNRU and the establishment of the Sharks Clubs XV this year, has also led to the positive foundation for the future of youth rugby. Now all thats needed is for the schools to see their way forward and associate themselves more with the clubs to help the youth program become even more successful. Provincial sides from all over the country have converged on the capital with the week-long tournament hosting close on 1000 youth players and one can only congratulate all partys concerned for bringing about this wonderful new initiative that surely can only but help the game grow and prosper.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:18:18 +0000
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